Recent reprogramming of NASA's Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission has motivated an examination of the comet rendezvous opportunities available with launch dates in 1995 and 1996. Various interplanetary transfer modes have been investigated including direct, Delta V-earth-gravity- assist and Venus/earth gravity assist trajectories. Optimal trajectories have been generated and their performance assessed for a spacecraft using a chemical propulsion system and the upgraded Titan/Centaur launch vehicle. Of the viable options available, a new CRAF baseline mission has been selected. One important result of the present study is that while there are comet rendezvous trajectories with launch dates throughout the next decade, 1997 marks the beginning of a hiatus of opportunities with short flight times to the comet targets which promise the greatest potential science return.
Trajectory design for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby 1995-1996 opportunities
AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Conference ; 1988 ; Minneapolis, MN, United States
1988-01-01
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby Mission
NTIS | 1992
|The comet rendezvous asteroid flyby mission
NTRS | 1992
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